To Catch His Step-Sister's Killer, He Confessed To Her Murder

In 1995, Nicole van den Hurk was murdered. At the time, there were no leads and no suspects. She was just 15 years old when she was killed, and her body was found six weeks after she went missing.

This is her story.

Early Life

Nicole van den Hurk was born in July 1980 to her mother Angelika Tegtmeier. Her father, Ad van den Hurk, was a Dutch singer.

In 1981, it was determined that Ad van den Hurk was in fact not Nicole's biological father. It was a friend of Tegtmeier who was married to someone else when he slept with Nicole's mother.

In 1982, Nicole's birth certificate was changed to reflect her biological father. However, she and her mother still moved from Germany to the Netherlands to be with Ad. Ad was legally recognized as the girl's father, while her biological father paid monthly alimony. As for Ad, he remained "firmly convinced" that he was Nicole's biological father.

In 1989, Tegtmeier and van den Hurk divorced, with Ad winning custody of Nicole. She moved in with her dad and later his new wife, Jolanda.

Disappearance

On October 6, 1995, Nicole van den Hurk was at her grandmother's house for a visit. She got on her bike to head to her part-time job at a local bakery but she never arrived. Nicole's boss called her, but to no avail. She was gone. At 6pm, local police found Nicole's bicycle at the bottom of the river. For days, police investigated her disappearance, asking friends and family for any information they may have. The police had hundreds of tips about van den Hurk's disappearance. Two weeks after her disappearance, van den Hurk's backpack was found so police brought in sniffer dogs to try and work off that lead, but it came up empty.

After broadcasts on local news, Dateline, and through other news outlets police began to think van den Hurk was not actually missing, but rather hiding out in her birth country of Germany. Her step-father harshly rejected this theory, so police kept searching.

On November 22, 1995, Nicole van den Hurk's body was found in the woods.